An increased understanding of the relationship between subconcussive head impacts and near point of convergence (NPC) ocular-motor function may be useful in delineating traumatic brain injury. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether repetitive subconcussive head impacts during preseason football practice cause changes in NPC.

While published work and media attention about football-related concussion in the USA have increased exponentially in the past few years, these injuries have in fact been written about for over a century. In this work, we undertook a selective review of the PubMed database of the published reports on concussion in football prior to 1960, with attention to the definitions used, physician attitudes, epidemiology, return to play criteria and recommendations and concerns related to long-term outcomes.

In a controlled filed study, repeated low-severity head impacts due to heading in soccer were not associated with any neurochemical changes (serum and cerebrospinal fluid) indicating possible signs of injury to the brain.

To examine the effects of protective headgear in adolescent football (soccer) players. Adolescent football players experience a significant number of concussions. Being female may increase the risk of suffering a concussion and injuries on the head and face, while the use of football headgear may decrease the risk of sustaining these injuries.

Cross-sectional studies have indicated that neurocognitive performance may be impaired among football players. Heading the ball has been suggested as the cause, but recent reviews state that the reported deficits are more likely to be the result of head injuries.

Sport-related concussion has received significant attention in recent years. Media coverage of multiple injuries to several high-profile athletes, some of whom were forced into retirement because of repeated concussions, has created a welcome awareness among sports medicine personnel and the general public. Many of the questions that researchers have failed to address in the past are now being studied. Despite the complexities associated with studying sport-related concussion, answers to some of the more intriguing questions are on the horizon.

Although all injuries in sports are a concern for participants, head injuries are particularly troublesome because of the potential for long-term cognitive deficits. To prevent any specific injury, it is important to understand the basic frequency and incidence of injury and then the mechanism of injury. Once these are established, prevention programmes can be tested to see if the rate of injury changes.

The potential for risks associated with chronic soccer heading has led some soccer leagues to mandate the use of soccer headgear. Although manufacturers have designed and promoted these headbands to decrease the forces associated with heading a soccer ball, their efficacy has not been tested. Therefore, we investigated the efficacy of 3 brands of soccer headgear: Headers, Headblast, and Protector, as compared with a non-headband condition.

There has been growing controversy about the possible injurious effects to the brain of repeated low-severity head impacts, such as when heading a football. However, there are few scientific data substantiating these concerns with direct evidence for neuronal damage in response to the impact.